Buicknutty

Good to know, Matt. The shaft was bad on mine, and a local shop redid the whole unit, including a replate on the shaft. Seems to of done a nice job, but quite costly. Keith

First, I'll say that I don't do my cars for top level type of judging, I restore mine to drive, though I do strive to be as correct and original as possible, but I believe that virtually everyone uses reproduction rubber seals. I think that you are right that if you were lucky enough to find some NOS rubber of that vintage, it would likely be too dried out to be usable. Also, in all the years I've been buying parts for my cars, I don't remember seeing any NOS rubber for 50's cars. I've bought from Steele, (they have an on line catalogue) and have been very satisfied with their fit, quality and service, there may be others you can use, but they do have a wide selection. Not cheap, but you usually get what you pay for. Keith

Allentown Pa would be a possibility, I'll keep it mind. Keith

Well John, maybe we'll get the chance to park the 2 '56s side by side again somewhere! Good stuff. Keith

Thanks for the info, Lief! Keith

I had to have the one on my '56 rebuilt last year, and the shaft in the booster had gone bad, as well as a few other things, so I had it done, for $500., a bit steep, without it you can't drive the car! If it just needed the seals, I would of done it myself, but it needed the whole 9 yards. Keith

So drilling a fitting for grease is viable? Maybe I should do that to my '56. Keith

A few years ago a friend had this happen to him on a tour in a '56 Special. He heard a loud noise and he said it felt like someone had hit him from behind, and then no driving power to the wheels, and it was pretty much the same issue, except I believe that it was the splines at the back that failed, where it goes into the rear end. I have heard of people drilling and tapping a grease fitting into the back of the torque tube so that the splines can be lubed. I would be afraid that the partciles of metal would cause more harm than the lube would do good, to do this to my car. Keith

Glad you're enjoying the area! I too, was surprised when I got the wiper motor rebuilt and then how well they worked. Keith

Congrats, I'm hoping to the system in my '56 working again this year. Enjoy the cool air! Keith

Make sure that you don't have them too tight, as that will cause the valves to burn. If during the adjustment, the engine gets a "roll" it, that's a sure fire sign that one at least is way too tight. The other point, is that a valve adjustment may or may not have any effect on the compression, if there're only off by a couple of thou it won't make a difference. If you have a lot of "clatter" then for sure it needs an adjustment. Let us know how you make out. Keith

Adjusting with the engine running at idle is the best I've found, more difficult to do though. The problem I've had, is that as soon as you shut it down the rockers start to cool, and by the time I'm finished all 16, they've cooled enough to throw the adjustment off. However, that may not be why the compression is down, that kind of spread could be due to normal wear. Did you test "wet", ie., with some oil in the cylinder, to see if there's a difference? Keith

Looking forward to seeing the pictures! Keith

Well Mike, I have to say it again, but the wood on that '49 looks awesome! Someday...... Keith

Hey Pete, I just found the thread, and I have nothing original to add, except for my congrats on another awesome "barn find"! Enjoy! Keith

A real gem of a car, a time capsule of sorts. Keith

Folks; This is the pipe that comes from behind the carb (out of the valve lifter cover) and down the back of the engine. My car is a California car that was retrofitted with a rather primitive PVC valve instead of the vent, and I'm looking to return it to its' original configuration. Shipping would be to the Toronto, Ontario, area of Canada. Thank you for looking! Keith

Nice looking car! Keith

Looking good, Matt! Keith

Very nice bit of engineering! Keith

So, I got a reconditoned steering wheel from Doug Seybold in Westlake, Ohio, plus a few other of the interior plastics. Expensive, but beautifull stuff. The steering wheel now feels like silk when driving it. I also got the turn signal lever and the gearshift lever re chromed, so that they too would look as nice as the new plastics. Well, the gearshift was in quite nice shape, the chrome was just dull, and it came back looking perfect, but the turn lever was rather rusty, and it didn't turn out so well. Kinda lumpy, and that was the best he said he could do. So, since I have a machine lathe in my basement, I got some brass stock, and made a new one, and then had it plated. I have dealt with the plating company for some time, and they didn't charge for the plating job, but its' only about 5" long, and I finished it to nearly a polished surface before I gave it to them. The original had a wide grove in it near the column, that held a rubber like compound, which of course is long gone, so I just contoured my repro in that area, which I think looks quite nice. My own humble opinion, of course. So, here's a few pictures. Those of you that know these cars will notice that the dash is not wood grained like it should be, but just painted. The wood grain will come along at a later date, but one of the few differences between the Canadian and US cars is that the "engine turning" finish was not used on the instrument panel and glove box door, it was all woodgrained. Perhaps to emulate the Bristish cars that had the real wood trim in the interior, but no one seems to know for sure. Again, there is no actual factory documentation for this, but myself and others have seen other original McLaughlin Buicks to confirm this. Now we're off on Friday afternoon with the car for weekend long tour of all pre WWII cars through the nice countryside East of Toronto. Lovely touring through there, nice roads with 50 MPH limits, and scenic rolling hills. Keith

Nice car, and very good pictures! The ones of the car on the street in front of the cafes and the Louvre especially. Keith

I came home in a 1951 Standard Vangard, a British car made by Standard Motors who also made the Triumph. My Dad shortly afterwards bought a 1953 Pontiac, which is the first car I remember us owning. Keith

Well, I have mine, but I'm still doing some other work on the car, so I haven't been able to drive my Roadmaster with the new sway bar yet! Keith

Tuner cars were mentioned by "Thriller", and I think about that when the issue of affordability comes up. Some of these young guys spend a lot on them, and if they wanted to they could likely buy a more "vintage" car, but its' their choice to buy and customize a '90's Honda, or whatever fits as a "tuner" car. Part of it is that's what they grew up with, so they have an attachment to them, more than likely. Also, they are available, like model T's were in days gone by. The other thing is that there are more and more cars getting old enough to be a "collector", so the potential for cars to collect is ever increasing, which I think is good, as there are only so many 40's and 50's, etc., cars out there. On a more personal note, I recently caught my kids (daughter 21, son 13) kind of arguing about who will get which car when I'm gone! Zowie! I didn't think I was that old yet! Keith